Wage growth remains close to inflation

The average Australian worker received a pay rise of nearly $1900 in 2017, lifting the annual wage to $81,619.

That's a 2.4 per cent pay increase but once adjusted for inflation it's a rise of just 0.5 per cent.

Little wonder why people complain about the cost of living.

The latest six-monthly average weekly earnings figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics tends to be more volatile than the wage price index, which was released on Wednesday and is the Reserve Bank's preferred measure of wages growth for gauging interest rate policy.

But Thursday's report does express outcomes in dollar terms for different industries so people can see how well, or badly, they are doing.

Top earners in 2017 were the average miner on a salary of $134,196, although they received an annual rise of only 0.3 per cent last year compared with an inflation rate of 1.9 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, accommodation and food services employees drew a salary of $57,870 on average but gained a modestly higher increase of 0.4 per cent on the year.

Related Articles

However, if you have a job in "administration or support services" - bingo.

These workers received a pay rise of 6.5 per cent but earn an average salary of $72,228.

Commonwealth Securities chief economist Craig James says the report also suggests it's not just what you do for a living but where you live.

"If you live in NSW, wages are growing at a 3.3 per cent annual rate. But if you live in South Australia, wages apparently eased by 0.3 per cent over the year," he said.

Mr James said the composition of the data meant it could be distorted by movements from part time to full time, cashing out of bonuses, enterprise bargaining agreements and different pay rises and agreements in private and public sectors.

But he said the Reserve Bank had previously noted there were pockets of strength in the jobs market and this was reflected in higher wages.

"Reserve Bank researchers will no doubt pore over the figures to assess whether they are underestimating the lift in wages occurring across the economy," he said.

The wage price index showed annual wages growth picked up to an 18-month high of 2.1 per cent in the December quarter, just 0.2 per cent higher than inflation.